Promises Kept
by lorrie
Summary: Gage is reminded of his painful childhood by a young boy's recent plite.


"Promises Kept"  
By: Lorrie  
  
The following story is based on the characters of the TV Series "Walker, Texas Ranger". The characters belong to CBS Productions, Top Kick Productions, etc., but the story is mine. ALL DISCLAIMERS APPLY. (No copyright infringement is intended.)  
  
  
Sydney and Gage were in pursuit of a blue Chevy truck that had been seen speeding away from the First National Bank of Dallas just after it was robbed. "Walker, he's heading south on Elm, we're closing in."  
  
"Trivette and I are about five minutes out."   
  
Gage and Sydney were closing in on the suspect's vehicle just as it crashed into a stopped tractor trailer, causing the tractor trailer to jackknife and set off a twelve car pile up. Gage and Sydney watched in horror as one car became airborne and landed hard on its roof.   
  
Gage quickly ran to the car to rescue the occupants. The couple in the front was dead, but there was a small boy in the back moving around. "Hey buddy. We need to get you out of here, OK?" The boy was frightened but nodded in agreement. Gage released his seatbelt and carefully pulled him out through the side window. As he picked him up, he detected the familiar smell of gasoline. He quickly ran from the car seconds before it exploded into flames.  
  
"Mom! Dad!" The little boy screamed as Gage dropped to the ground to protect them both from falling debris.  
  
Sydney ran to her partner, he was clinging to the crying little boy and Sydney realized that Gage was crying too. She put her arms around him. "It's OK. It's going to be OK."  
  
Walker and Trivette arrived on the scene and apprehended the bank robbers. They met up with Sydney. "Where's Gage?" Walker asked.  
  
Sydney explained what had happened. "He's with the boy. He won't leave him."  
  
Gage sat down beside of the boy on the curb. "What's your name?" He asked. The boy stared straight ahead with tears in his eyes. "I'm Ranger Gage."  
  
"Chris. Chris Garrison." The boy said quietly.  
  
"Chris, how old are you?"  
  
"Eight. Ranger Gage, my mom and dad are dead, aren't they?" Chris asked.  
  
Walker kept his distance since the boy appeared to trust Gage and was talking to him.  
  
Gage nodded. "Yes Chris, they are."  
  
"What happens to me now?"  
  
"Do you have any relatives around?"  
  
Chris shook his head. "No."  
  
Gage smiled. "We'll work something out."  
  
Walker and Sydney approached Gage and Chris. "Hi young man. I'm Ranger Walker."  
  
"Chris, this is my wife Sydney."  
  
"Wow! She's a Texas Ranger too."  
  
"She sure is. Will you do me a favor? Will you let the paramedics take a look at you to make sure you're OK?"  
  
"You won't leave me will you, Ranger Gage?"  
  
"I won't leave you Chris."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"I promise." Chris let the paramedics lead him to the squad.  
  
"Gage, we have to turn him over the child services." Walker said.  
  
"No way! They'll put him in foster care."  
  
"Gage, you saved his life. He's not your responsibility." Walker responded.  
  
Gage looked at Sydney with pleading eyes. "I'm not leaving him!" Gage walked away.  
  
Walker started to go after him. "Walker, wait! This one is hitting a little too close to home for him. I don't know how much you know about Gage's childhood, but he lost both of his parents in a car accident when he was eight. He and his sister grew up in-group foster care, abusive foster care. He told me they were beaten, often. He's not going to let that little boy go through what he did."  
  
"I had no idea, but still we have to turn the boy over to child services."  
  
"Maybe not. What if Gage and I took him home with us?"  
  
Walker thought for a moment. "I have a friend in child services, let's run it by her and see if she'll approve you and Gage as the boys guardians."  
  
"I'll tell Gage." Sydney ran off to find Gage and Chris.  
  
"Sydney, are you sure you're OK with this? I mean we've only been married for a few month."  
  
"I know you're not going to let this go. I can't either. He need someone."  
  
"More than you know, at least I had Julie."  
  
"Chris, how would you like to go home with me and Sydney?" Chris nodded.  
  
Sydney and Gage brought Chris into the apartment. "Gage, I'm going out to get a few things for him, OK?"  
  
"See if Walker found out where he lives. If he has, see if you can get a picture of his parents. He'll need some clothes and if you can, find a special toy."  
  
"Are you sure about the picture?" Sydney asked.  
  
Gage nodded. "I'm real sure."  
  
"OK. I love you." Sydney kissed Gage as she went out the door.  
  
Walker and Trivette had been able to find out where the deceased couple lived. They met Sydney at the house where she gathered several things for Chris.  
  
Meanwhile Chris had fallen asleep on the couch with his head in Gage's lap. He suddenly screamed out "Mom! Dad! Noooo!" and cried. Gage held him close.  
  
"It's OK Chris. It's OK."  
  
"It's not OK! My mom and dad are never coming back! They're dead! They left me!" Chris sobbed.  
  
Gage cried with him. "Chris, buddy, I know just how you feel."  
  
Sydney heard Chris scream just as she was about to open the door. Walker was with her; he had wanted to check on Chris before he went home. They both overheard Gage talking to Chris. "How could you know how I feel?" Chris sobbed.  
  
"I've been there. My parents were killed in a car accident too, when I was about your age. I felt like they had abandoned me. My sister and I had nowhere to go, no relatives to stay with."  
  
"Where did you go?"  
  
"We were placed in foster care."  
  
"Like you and Sydney are taking care of me?" Chris asked.  
  
"Something like that." Gage smiled, fighting back the painful memories of his foster care. "Hey, I think I hear Sydney at the door. Let's see if we can help her, OK?"  
  
"OK"  
  
"How is he?" Sydney asked.  
  
"He's OK. He had a bad dream and woke up crying."  
  
"You told him about your parents, didn't you?"  
  
"Yeah. He needs to know that someone understands what he's going through."  
  
"What about you?" Sydney's worry was showing.  
  
"What about me?"  
  
"Gage, I can tell. This whole situation is bringing back a lot of memories for you."  
  
Gage looked away from his wife. "I'm OK."  
  
"Are you?" Sydney put her hands on his head and made him face her.  
  
He tried to look away again. "OK, I'll admit, it's bringing back things I wanted to forget and things I thought I'd put to rest, but that's not Chris' fault and I won't let child services have him." Gage walked out to talk to Walker and Chris.  
  
Later that night after dinner, Sydney ran a bath for Chris while Gage cleared the dinner table and washed the dishes.  
  
"Sydney, do you like me?" Chris asked.  
  
"I like you very much Chris."  
  
"I like you too. You're pretty." Chris kissed her on the cheek as she tucked him in bed. Gage stood in the doorway watching his wife and this wonderful little boy bond.  
  
"Sydney, would you read me a story?" Chris asked.  
  
"What would you like to hear?"  
  
"Something with a happy ending." Chris replied.  
  
"Do you like 'Robin Hood'?" Sydney asked  
  
"That's my favorite."  
  
"Mine too," said Gage as he sat down beside of Sydney with the book. "How about we read maybe three chapters tonight and continue it tomorrow night, OK? But first, do you want to say your prayers?" Chris nodded.  
  
"Dear God, I'm not sure why you took my mom and dad to heaven, but I know they're OK with you. Thank you for Sydney and Gage, they're really nice people and they'll take real good care of me here. Tell mom and dad not to worry about me. I miss them. Amen."  
  
Gage started to read the book, by the time he had reached the end of Chapter 1, Chris had fallen asleep. Gage leaned over and kissed his forehead and tucked him in. "Good night Chris."  
  
Sydney and Gage headed to their bedroom. "Did anyone make the arrangements for his parents?" Gage asked.  
  
"Alex and Walker took care of it this afternoon. As far as we can tell, there are no relatives. Services will be the day after tomorrow. Do you think Chris will be OK? I mean its almost like he's avoiding the issue. Tonight he acted as if nothing was wrong."  
  
"I think he's doing as well as can be expected. Sometimes the only way a kid knows how to deal with something like this is to pretend like it didn't happen. What time is it?"  
  
"Almost 9:30."  
  
"I think I'm going to call Julie."  
  
"I'm going to take a bath. Tell Julie I said hi. Why don't you see if she can come up this weekend?"  
  
"That's what I was thinking."  
  
Gage talked to Julie for a while, then met Sydney in bed. "She's coming up tomorrow evening." Gage said as he snuggled up close to his wife.  
  
"Good." Sydney replied.   
  
"I guess we should talk to Chris tomorrow about the services and sort of prepare him. What do you think?"  
  
"I think you're a wonderful man." Sydney kissed him gently on the lips. Soon they were making love and fell asleep nestled closely to each other.  
  
Gage woke up a few hours later drenched in sweat. "Honey, what's wrong?" Sydney asked.  
  
"Nothing. I'm sorry I woke you."  
  
Sydney got up and walked across the room to the window where Gage was standing. "You're shaking."  
  
"I had a nightmare."  
  
"Your parents?"  
  
Gage nodded, "And my foster parents."  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"Maybe later. We both need to get some sleep." They laid back down.  
  
The following day Julie arrived and immediately bonded with Chris.  
  
"I really like Julie, she's nice."  
  
"Yes, she is." Sydney replied.  
  
"Chris, we need to talk to you about something." Gage said as he led Chris to the living room. "Your parent's funeral is tomorrow morning. Have you ever been to a funeral?" Chris shook his head no.  
  
Julie, Sydney and Gage tried to prepare Chris for the funeral service, but Gage and Julie knew that nothing could really prepare him for what was to come.  
  
The next day, they arrived at the chapel and were met by Walker, Alex and Trivette. Chris buried his head in Gage's side for the entire service. Gage put his arm around Chris protectively.  
  
After the funeral, they returned to the apartment. "Alex said she and Walker would come by later this evening." Sydney said as she undressed. "I think I'm going to lay down for awhile."  
  
"What's wrong?" Gage asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, but my stomach is upset." After saying that, she quickly headed for the bathroom and lost her breakfast.  
  
"Syd, are you OK?" Gage came into the bathroom and helped Sydney into bed.  
  
"I just need to lay down."  
  
"OK. I'll check on you in a little while. Do you need anything?" Sydney shook her head.  
  
"Is she OK?" Julie asked as Gage came back into the living room.  
  
"Her stomach is upset. She's laying down."  
  
"Chris is asleep too. He's exhausted, emotionally and physically. How are you holding up? I know this has to be hard on you."  
  
Gage nodded. "Do you remember the dream I kept having after my so called 'accident'?"  
  
Julie shuddered at the memory of the incident Gage was speaking of and nodded. "That mom and dad were calling for you, but you couldn't find them anywhere."  
  
"That's the one. It's back, except I can't get to the end of it. I keep waking up in a cold sweat. I even woke Sydney the other night. She's upset because I won't tell her about it."  
  
"Does she know that you, we, were abused in foster care?"  
  
"She know, but she doesn't know how bad." Gage replied.  
  
"You need to talk to her."  
  
"I know. I will." Gage replied.  
  
The following morning Sydney woke up and started to make breakfast but had to surrender the task to Julie when her stomach forced her into the bathroom again.  
  
Gage woke up to the sound of Sydney throwing up. "Syd? No better uh?"  
  
"No. I feel horrible."  
  
"See if you can get an appointment with the doctor. I'll take you." Sydney weakly nodded.  
  
"Who'll keep Chris?"  
  
"I will. We'll be fine, go ahead." Julie replied.  
  
"Gage. My appointment's at 10:30." Sydney called to Gage after hanging up the phone.  
  
"OK." Gage called from the shower. "I'll be out in a minute."  
  
Soon they arrived at the doctor's office. "I'm sure it's just a stomach virus, but my husband insisted that I get it checked out."  
  
"We'll just run a couple of tests," replied the doctor. "It'll take just a few minutes."  
  
Sydney waited in the examination room while Gage was in the waiting room. Soon the doctor came in with Sydney's test results.  
  
"Mrs. Gage. You don't have a virus. You're pregnant."   
  
Sydney had to steady herself as she felt her knees go weak. "I'm what?"  
  
"You're about six weeks pregnant. Congratulations!"  
  
"Thank you." Sydney said absent mindedly as she headed out of the office.  
  
"Is everything OK?" Gage asked.  
  
"Uh uh." Sydney replied.  
  
"Is it a virus?" Gage asked.  
  
"Not exactly." Sydney said as they got into the car.  
  
"Well, what exactly is it?" Gage asked as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.  
  
"It's complicated."  
  
"Sydney, you're scaring me. Are you OK?"  
  
"I'm fine. We're fine."  
  
The realization of what Sydney had just said suddenly hit Gage, he stepped on the brake and pulled to the side of the road. "We're fine," he repeated. "You don't me you and me, do you?" He said excitedly.  
  
"No. I mean me and our baby." Sydney smiled. "I'm six weeks pregnant."  
  
Gage kissed her over and over again. "A baby! Our baby!" He was crying. "Oh Syd, I wasn't sure I'd ever hear that again. Our baby!"  
  
"Gage, I'm scared. I was just getting used to the idea of having an eight-year-old little boy living with us, but now, a baby? I don't know anything about being a mother."  
  
"Syd. It's OK. It'll be fine." Gage started the engine and drove home.  
  
"Well, is it a virus?" Julie asked.  
  
"No. It's a baby!" Gage replied excitedly.  
  
"Congratulations you two. This is great!" Julie replied.  
  
"Yeah great." Sydney said. "What am I supposed to do about work?"  
  
"You're going on desk duty until after the baby's born and I out rank you, so don't even try to argue." Gage replied.  
  
"Gage," her thought was interrupted by yet another trip to the bathroom.  
  
"Chris and I are going out of pizza. I thought maybe you two would like to be alone." Julie said as Sydney came out of the bathroom.  
  
"Thanks Julie."  
  
Gage sat down on the couch. "Sydney, aren't you happy about the baby?"  
  
"Of course I'm happy. It's just that we never discussed it. We haven't planned for it, now all of a sudden I'm pregnant. Everything changes for me."  
  
"Me too. Oh but Syd, a baby, our baby." Gage beamed.  
  
"What about Chris?"  
  
"What about him? I love Chris."  
  
"So do I. Gage he needs stability."  
  
"What are you suggesting?" Gage smiled.  
  
"I want us to adopt him."  
  
"I want that too. I just wasn't sure how you'd feel about it." Gage smiled again.  
  
"We'll need to check with Alex and see how long we have to wait."  
  
"Yeah, he probably needs to talk to a counselor or something too." Gage replied.  
  
"Did you and Julie?"  
  
"No, but I wish we had."  
  
Julie returned with Chris. "Did you have a good time buddy?" Gage asked. Chris nodded.  
  
"It's almost your bedtime Chris." Sydney said as she laid out his PJ's. "Will you get washed up and change your clothes? I'll be in shortly to read you a story."  
  
"Can Gage read to me too?" Chris asked.  
  
"I'll be there in a minute." Gage called out.  
  
Gage and Sydney made arrangements for Julie to stay with Chris the following day while they went to work. "Maybe Walker and Trivette will have a few minutes this morning. I need to go ahead and let them know that I'm pregnant. I hope they'll understand."  
  
"I'm sure they will." Gage replied with a smile.  
  
"Walker, do you have a minute?" Sydney and Gage asked as they walked in the door. "Trivette, we need you in here too."  
  
"What's up, guys?" Trivette asked.  
  
Sydney took a deep breath. "OK, here goes. I'm pregnant."  
  
"That's great! Congratulations!" Walker and Trivette exclaimed.  
  
"I need desk duty, but I want to stay here at Company B if at all possible." Sydney requested.  
  
"If nothing else, Syd can do all of my paperwork!" Gage teased.  
  
"I thought that's what I do now."  
  
"We'll work it out guys. Right now Trivette, I'll pair you up with Gage."  
  
"Sounds good. OK with you Syd?" Sydney nodded in agreement.  
  
Alex came in just as the group came out of Walker's office. Upon smelling the coffee brewing, Sydney immediately became nauseous and headed for the bathroom. "Is she OK?" Alex asked.  
  
Gage beamed. "She's better than OK. She's pregnant."  
  
"She's what?" Alex exclaimed as she ran to the ladies room to see if Sydney needed help. "Sydney?"  
  
"I'm in here Alex. Did Gage tell you our news?"  
  
"He sure did. I have to admit I'm a little surprised. You guys have only been married a few months."  
  
"Well, you're no more surprised that me."  
  
Alex grinned. "But you're OK with it aren't you?"  
  
"Of course I am. I'm carrying Gage's baby. It's something I've dreamed about for a long time, but I didn't think it would come so soon."  
  
"Sydney, the twins are the best thing that ever happened to me and Walker. I don't know what we'd do without them. You'll be a wonderful mother. What does Chris think about the baby?"  
  
"We haven't told him yet."  
  
"How is he adjusting?"  
  
"Pretty well. Which brings me to something I want to ask you. Alex, Gage and I want to start adoption procedures for Chris."  
  
Alex looked surprised. "You want to legally adopt him? Are you sure you want two kids this soon?"  
  
"We're sure Alex. Unless there's a relative somewhere."  
  
"I'll start the paperwork." Alex smiled.  
  
Three months later:  
  
"Gage, don't forget I have a doctor's appointment at 2:00 today."  
  
Gage peeked out of the shower. "Do they do the sonogram today?"  
  
Sydney nodded. "Yes. We should be able to find out if it's a boy or a girl."  
  
"Cool!" Gage replied. "Are you riding with me this morning?"  
  
"If you don't mind?"  
  
"No, I don't mind, but we'd better step on it. We're running late." Gage and Sydney arrived at Ranger HQ 15 minutes later. "Sorry we're late Walker."  
  
"No problem." Walker replied.  
  
Sydney started plowing through the mountain of paperwork on her desk.  
  
"Gage, come on. Our guys are making another hit on one of the jewelry stores downtown." Trivette said as he grabbed his hat.  
  
"Don't forget, 2:00." Sydney said as Gage headed out the door with Walker and Trivette.  
  
"I'll be here." He said as he headed out. "I love you!" he mouthed.  
  
"I love you too. Be careful."  
  
"Always." Gage replied.  
  
Gage and Trivette arrived on the scene moments before Walker. The robbery had gone bad. One of the guards had been shot and the robbers were holding five employees and two customers hostage.  
  
Gage and Trivette got out of the car and drew their weapons. Walker pulled up and joined them. "What do we have?" Walker asked.  
  
"Looks like there are four of them. They've shot a guard and are holding seven others hostage."  
  
One of the men yelled from the store, "We're coming out Rangers. We're heading for the car and we each have a hostage at gunpoint, so shoot at the risk of their lives."  
  
Walker, Trivette and Gage held their positions. The robbers came out with the hostages and loaded into the car.   
  
Suddenly a shot rang out. Trivette looked upward in the direction of the shooter on the roof. Walker saw Gage slump forward as the blast tore through his left side and exited just above his right hip bone. Gage involuntarily fired a shot towards the car. One of the robbers inside the car pointed the gun at Gage and fired. The bullet grazed the right side of his head. Walker reached Gage as his body slumped over the window of the car door.   
  
"Gage! Buddy, can you hear me?" Walker pressed his fingers to Gage's throat to feel for a pulse.  
  
"Officer down! Get an ambulance here now!" Trivette screamed. "Walker, I'm checking the roof for the shooter." Walker nodded.  
  
"Come on Gage. Hang on!" Gage moved slightly.  
  
"Hey buddy, can you hear me?"  
  
"Syd?" Gage whispered. "Where's Syd?"  
  
"She'll meet you at the hospital." Gage slightly nodded then his eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious. The paramedics quickly arrived loaded Gage into the ambulance.   
  
"Ranger, we're taking him to Methodist." Walker nodded.   
  
"Trivette, why don't you ride with them. I'll tell Sydney what's happened." Trivette nodded and got into the ambulance with the paramedics.  
  
Walker broke every speed limit in the book and arrived at HQ in ten minutes. He entered the office. "Hey, where did you lose Gage and Trivette?" Sydney asked as Walker entered.  
  
Alex came in as Walker approached Sydney. "Sydney, Gage has been shot. He's on his way to Methodist now."  
  
"Shot. How bad?" Sydney whispered.  
  
"It's pretty bad. One bullet appeared to have gone through his side and the other one," Walker trailed off. "Sydney, he was shot in the head, it looked like a graze, but I'm not sure."  
  
"Shot in the head, Oh my God!" Sydney screamed out and had to set down to keep from passing out. Alex rushed over and put her arms around Sydney and cried with her. "I want to be with him."  
  
Walker nodded. "Let's go."  
  
Walker, Alex and Sydney arrived at Methodist about 40 minutes after Gage had been taken into surgery.  
  
"Chris! He's with Julie. Walker, we can't just call her and tell her that her brother's been shot."  
  
Trivette spoke up, "I'll go get them."  
  
Julie and Chris were playing a game when Trivette knocked on the door. "Jimmy, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Julie, your brother's been shot. He's at Methodist." Julie nearly collapsed. Trivette caught her.  
  
"How bad is it?" Julie asked when she had regained her composure.  
  
"It's pretty bad. Sydney's there now with Walker and Alex." Chris ran to his room.  
  
"Chris! Chris wait!" Julie called after him.  
  
"No! He promised he'd never leave me! He promised!"  
  
Julie entered Chris' room and walker over to the bed where he lay sobbing. "It's my fault!" Chris wailed.  
  
"Why would you think that this is your fault!" Julie asked  
  
"I wished something bad would happen because I was jealous of the baby. I didn't mean it though. I love Gage and Sydney. I would never want anything bad to happen to them."  
  
"Shh. It's OK baby." It's not your fault." Julie rocked Chris back and forth.  
  
Gage's surgery lasted for six hours. Finally the doctor came to the door of the waiting room. Walker approached him first. "Doctor, how is Ranger Gage?"  
  
"It's really been touch and go. Why don't we sit down and I'll talk to all of you. Trivette took Chris down the hall. The doctor sat across from Sydney and took her hand. "He's in ICU, he's on life support." Sydney could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. "It's really been touch and go all afternoon. There was a tremendous amount of internal bleeding and the bullet did a lot of damage. It entered on his left side at an angle and pierced his left lung at the upper lobe upon entrance then again through the lower lobe; it passed through his stomach, part of his intestines and through his appendix, which I removed. He's lucky though. When I first saw him, I felt sure that his right hip was shattered, but the bullet barely scraped the top of the hip bone, it's only chipped." Sydney tried to keep her composure.  
  
"We've given him several units of blood and as I said, right now, he's on life support. The surgery was long and his body's tired. Hopefully it'll pick up on its own within the next 24 hours."  
  
Between her tears, Sydney asked, "What about the head injury?"  
  
"The bullet scraped the skull on the right side of his head. It's a little deeper than a graze but it didn't enter his head. We are watching for cranial hemorrhaging, other than that, I can't tell you a lot until he wakes up." The doctor patted Sydney's leg. "You really need to get some rest. There's nothing more you can do tonight."  
  
"I can't just leave him." Sydney cried.  
  
"Sydney, I'll stay. You need to rest, for yourself and the baby." Julie replied.   
  
"Why don't you come home with me and Walker?" Alex suggested.  
  
"I have to see him first."  
  
"OK, I'll go in with you." They approached the ICU.  
  
"Alex, I need to do this by myself, OK?" Alex nodded knowingly.  
  
Sydney entered and approached Gage's bed. His chest was covered in bandages and his head was wrapped, covering his right eye. There were tubes and monitors everywhere. The humming and beeping of the machines was almost unbearable. Sydney reached for Gage's hand and began to cry, first with quiet tears then with sobs. "Don't leave me Gage. Please don't leave me. I need you. We need you." Sydney lightly touched her stomach. Alex stepped up behind Sydney and put her arms around her. She choked back her own tears as she saw Gage lying there so lifeless.  
  
"Come on honey, it's time to go."  
  
"Alex, I don't want to leave. What if he wakes up and I'm not here."  
  
"The doctor said he would sleep all night. Trivette is going to stay with Julie and Walker and I are taking you and Chris home with us. We'll be back early in the morning, OK?" Sydney reluctantly nodded and kissed Gage on the forehead before leaving.  
  
The following morning, Chris woke up early and found Walker sitting alone in the kitchen.  
  
"Hey little guy, what are you doing up so early?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep." Chris replied.  
  
"Yeah, me neither."  
  
"Ranger Walker, is Gage going to be OK?" Chris asked.  
  
Walker swallowed. "I sure hope so Chris."  
  
"I don't want him to leave like my mom and dad did."  
  
"I don't want that either." Walker hugged the little boy.  
  
Sydney got up and dressed then met everyone in the kitchen. "You guys let me sleep too long. I wanted to get to the hospital early in case he woke up."  
  
"I talked to Trivette a while ago. There's no change. The doctor did tell them that he'd try him off of life support a little later this morning. He's not sure if his lung is ready to handle it yet though." Walker said.  
  
The doctor walked into ICU. "Let's try it," he said as he flipped off the respirator. Almost immediately alarms went off on the monitors. "Damn, he's crashing! Get the cart in here now! Code Blue!"  
  
Julie and Trivette heard the Code over the intercom and ran to the ICU. "What's going on?" Julie asked one of the nurses.  
  
"I'm sorry, you'll have to talk to the doctor."  
  
Trivette stepped inside of the ICU and confirmed their fears. It was Gage who was in full arrest. The medical team was frantically trying to bring him back. Trivette stepped back into the hallway and sank to the floor. Julie stood across from him with tears streaming down her face.   
  
The doctor came out a few minutes later. Trivette was almost afraid to ask about Gage, he didn't have to, the doctor spoke first. "We got him back."  
  
"Thank God." Julie exclaimed.  
  
"What happened anyway?" Trivette asked.  
  
"We took him off of life support and it took a little longer than I'd anticipated for his lungs to take over."  
  
"Is he OK?"  
  
"I think so, but time will tell," replied the doctor.  
  
Sydney was anxious to get back to the hospital. "Sydney, why don't I keep Chris with me and the twins today?" Alex suggested.  
  
"Is that OK with you Chris?" Sydney looked at the little boy. Chris nodded.  
  
"OK. Thanks Alex. Chris you be good, I'll call later and check on you. I love you." Sydney picked up her coat.  
  
Chris ran to her. "I love you too Sydney and Gage. Don't let him die, please!" Chris cried.  
  
"Oh Chris. I don't want to lose him either." Sydney held him close for a long time. "I'll call you later. I promise."  
  
When Walker and Sydney arrived at the hospital, Julie and Trivette filled them in on what had happened earlier.  
  
"Oh my God! He almost died and you didn't call us!" Sydney cried to Julie and Trivette.  
  
"Sydney once they stabilized them, we didn't want to worry you." Julie said.  
  
"You promised. You promised you'd call if there was any change, not just a change for the better. What if they hadn't have gotten him back? Don't you think I would have wanted to have been here?" Sydney scolded.  
  
"I'm sorry Sydney." Julie said as she hugged her sister-in-law and they both cried.  
  
"I want to see him now." Sydney walked towards the ICU. She entered, then stood beside of Gage's bed. She picked up his lifeless hand and held it to her lips and kissed it. "Please come back to me Gage. I'm scared. I need you."  
She felt his fingers slightly move in her hand. "Gage!"  
  
His left eye fluttered open, his right one still covered by the bandages. "Syd." Gage whispered.  
  
"I'm right here baby. I'm right here." Sydney pushed the call button for the nurse.  
  
"May I help you?" The nurse replied over the intercom.  
  
"Mr. Gage is awake, get his doctor in her now." Sydney replied, then turned all of her attention back to her husband. "I was so afraid I was going to lose you."  
  
"Not a chance. Where's Chris?" Gage asked through his parched lips.  
  
"He's with Alex."  
  
"How's the baby?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Is it a boy or a girl?"  
  
"I didn't keep my appointment. I don't know yet."  
  
"Syd? How long have I been in here?"  
  
"A couple of days."  
  
"It seems like forever."  
  
"For me too." Sydney replied.  
  
"Mrs. Gage. I need you to step outside for a moment while I examine him." The doctor said as he entered the room.  
  
Sydney told Julie and Trivette that Gage was awake, news to which they were overjoyed.   
  
The doctor met Sydney in the hall. "He has a pretty bad headache, but he seems to be very coherent. His vision in his right eye is blurry, but that's most likely due to swelling and bruising. We'll keep a check on it. He's asking for you."  
  
Sydney smiled as she walked up to her husband. She ran her fingers through his hair. "How's the headache?"  
  
"Probably the worst I've ever had, that I can remember anyway. I understand from the doctor that things were sort of touch and go for a while.  
I'm so sorry I put you through this." Gage held Sydney's hand. "How is Chris holding up?"  
  
"He's scared. Alex is going to bring him by later. They're supposed to get you into a room by this afternoon and he can visit then." Gage smiled. "He knows about the baby. He must have overheard us talking. He thinks that the shooting was his fault." Gage looked puzzled.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He said he wished for something bad to happen because he was jealous of the baby."  
  
"Oh no. I'll talk to him. I don't want him to feel left out. I want him to be part of our family."  
  
"Me too. I talked to Alex, she said she'd start the proceedings for adoption, but it could take up to a year to finalize." Gage closed his eyes in obvious pain. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Syd, I just hurt all over, but especially my head."  
  
"I'll see if the nurse can bring you something."  
  
"Thanks baby. I love you."  
  
"I love you too." Sydney stopped by the nurse's station and told her that Gage was in pain. The nurse gave him medication so he could rest.  
  
Later that afternoon, Gage had been moved to room 412. Walker and Alex were visiting with him when Julie, Sydney and Chris arrived.  
  
"I'm glad to see you're feeling so much better. We'd better go, it looks like your family just got here." Alex said as she and Walker prepared to leave.  
  
"Take care Gage. We'll check on you later." Walker said as he and Alex left.  
  
"So how are you feeling?" Sydney asked as she kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"Much better now that you guys are here. Hey Chris! How are you buddy?" Gage smiled. Chris looked down at the floor.   
  
Julie kissed her brother and talked for a few moments. "Listen, I'm going to let you guys have some time alone. Trivette owes me lunch anyway. I'll stop by later."  
  
"Thanks sis."  
  
"Hey Chris, come here." Gage patted the side of the bed. "It's OK." Chris sat on the edge of Gage's bed, but wouldn't look at him. "Chris, we're still friends aren't we?" Chris nodded but still wouldn't look up. "Hey buddy, look at me." Gage touched Chris' cheek and turned his head towards him. "This wasn't your fault."  
  
Chris began to cry. "Yes it was. I wished for something bad to happen but I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry."  
  
"Shh." Gage held Chris close. "It's not your fault Chris. My job is sometimes dangerous and this was one of those times. I got shot because a bad guy was on the roof of one of the buildings and we missed him. We didn't know he was there. It had nothing to do with your wish. Chris things don't come true just because we wish for them to. If that was the case then my parents wouldn't have died and I bet yours wouldn't have either, right?"  
  
Chris nodded and wiped his tears. "Will you and Sydney still love me when the baby gets here?"  
  
"You bet buddy. Sydney and I want to adopt you and make you part of our family."  
  
"Really?" Chris asked.  
  
"Really," replied Sydney who had been quietly listening to the conversation. "The four of us will be one big happy family," she smiled and sat down on the bed with Chris and Gage.  
  
"When can you come home Gage?" Chris asked.  
  
"It'll probably be awhile. I can't even eat solid food yet."  
  
Sydney hadn't thought about it until then, but it probably would be awhile before Gage could come home. The bullet had gone through his lung, his stomach and part of his intestine, certainly that would need to heal before he was released.  
  
Julie and Trivette returned to the hospital and Julie asked Sydney if she wanted to stay or go home and rest. "I should probably rest, but I really don't want to leave him." Sydney looked at Gage who by this point was visibly tired.  
  
"Syd, why don't you and Chris go home? I'm not going anywhere. I just want my pain medication and some sleep."  
  
"If you're sure you'll be OK?"  
  
"I'm sure," he kissed her head.  
  
"OK. We'll be back in the morning. I love you."   
  
Gage kissed Sydney and her round belly then kissed Chris on the head. "Take care of Sydney for me, OK buddy?"   
  
"I will."  
  
"Julie, I want to talk to the doctor for a moment." Sydney said as they headed down the hall.  
  
Sydney stopped by the doctor's office and talked for ten minutes, then they headed for Julie's car.  
  
"What did you ask the doctor?" Julie asked.  
  
"How long Gage will have to be in here."  
  
"What did he say?"  
  
"Probably 3-4 weeks, depending on how quickly his stomach and lung heal." Sydney said.  
  
"That's not so bad. It's not the longest he's ever stayed in the hospital."  
  
"It's not?"  
  
"No." Julie pulled up to the apartment.   
  
They went inside and got Chris into bed. "Good night sweetie." Sydney said as she tucked him in.  
  
"Good night Sydney. Do you need anything?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Gage asked me to take care of you. Do you need anything before I go to sleep?" Chris yawned.  
  
"No honey. I'm fine. Good night." She closed the door.  
  
"Julie, in the car you said something about Gage being in the hospital longer than 3 weeks, when?"  
  
"I thought he was going to tell you." I guess he changed his mind. "When we were kids, our foster father, if you could call him that, Luke, hit us a lot. One day he was hitting me and Frances tried to stop him. Luke pulled his arm behind his back so hard you could hear it snap. Frances screamed, the kind of scream you never want to hear from a kid, then Luke literally threw him down the basement steps and locked the padlock on the door." Tears streamed down Julie's face. "It was almost two days before Luke was sober enough to remember where Frances was. He found him at the bottom of the steps where he'd thrown him, still unconscious."   
  
"When he got to the emergency room they did x-rays and found that Frances had a skull fracture, his arm was broken in three places and his right leg was broken. He spent almost eight weeks in the hospital. He was in a coma for about 3 1/2 of those eight."  
  
"Sydney, that's what his recent nightmares were about."  
  
Sydney was stunned. "Child services turned him back over to Luke?"  
  
"Luke told them that Frances had fallen down the stairs and hit his head. There was nothing to dispute that and if I had said otherwise, I was afraid Luke would have killed us both."  
  
"That's why Gage was so adamant about child services being called for Chris." Sydney said.  
  
"Exactly. I probably shouldn't have told you."  
  
"No, I'm glad you did."  
  
"Later, when Luke was caught red handed, so to speak, beating Frances, our case worker had Luke and his wife arrested and Frances ended up giving a video testimony about his abuse. His testimony landed Luke and his wife in jail."  
  
Sydney shook her head. "How could anyone raise a hand to a defenseless child?"  
  
The following morning Sydney got Chris ready for school and dropped him off on her way to the hospital.  
  
"Good morning sleepyhead." Sydney said as she opened the curtains to let the morning sun creep into Gage's room.  
  
"Good morning." Gage said sleepily.  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
"Hungry."  
  
"Are they giving you anything solid yet?"  
  
"Nope. Just my trusty IV and a glass of Ensure."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Hey, at least they took out the catheter." Gage smiled. "You're taking care of yourself, right? I mean, you did stop and eat breakfast didn't you?"   
  
"I had toast and orange juice and yes I'm taking care of myself."  
  
"Good, now come over here and give me a good morning kiss." Sydney leaned over Gage playfully and kissed his lips lightly, then more passionately.  
  
"Umm! Sorry to interrupt. I guess I don't need to ask how you're feeling this morning," said the doctor somewhat embarrassed at having walked in on their intimate moment.  
  
"I'm sorry doctor. I, I'm so embarrassed." Sydney said as she backed away from Gage's bedside.  
  
"Don't be embarrassed. I'm sure it must be very difficult for you two to be apart. I understand you've only been married for a few months."  
  
"The best months of my life." Gage replied.  
  
"Mine too." Sydney smiled.  
  
  
"Well, I have some good news. AS soon as Mr. Gage's physical therapist releases him, he can go home. Everything looks like it's healing very well. I'm going to start you on soft solids today, yogurt, mashed potatoes, things like that and I'll speak with your PT and see what he thinks about your progress.  
  
"That's great news!" Gage exclaimed.  
  
"It sure is." Sydney agreed.  
  
Later that evening Gage's physical therapist stopped by. "Hey man. I talked to you doc. We agreed that I'd release you as soon as you can get out of bed, walk across the room and get back into bed on your own. I usually wouldn't push for so much, but with your wife being pregnant, she won't be able to help you very much when you get home. Sound fair?"  
  
Gage was visibly disappointed. "I guess," he finally said.  
  
"Hey, at the rate you're going, I figure you'll be out of here by end of next week, if you keep working."  
  
"Let's get to it then." Gage replied.  
  
Gage pushed himself each day to go just a little further and do just a little more than his PT expected. By Thursday of the following week, he was able to get out of bed, walk across the room with the aid of a cane and get back into bed by himself.  
  
"You did it man! As promised, I'm releasing you."  
  
"Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you pushing me."  
  
Sydney and Chris came to pick Gage up later that afternoon. "Hey buddy, how are you doing? Are things OK at school?" Gage asked Chris as he entered the room.  
  
"Great! I'm so glad you're coming home."  
  
"Me too." Gage kissed Sydney.  
  
Gage got into a wheelchair and a nurse pushed him out to the lobby and helped him into the car. Sydney slipped behind the wheel after closing Chris' door. Gage leaned back in his seat. He was going home. This ordeal was finally over.  
  
THE END  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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